ISLAMABAD, June 24: Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat on Tuesday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to immediately launch Zero Point flyover project, which was shelved two years back due to financial constraints.

During a meeting with the CDA officials on Tuesday, the minister said traffic congestion at Zero Point square created problem for the commuters and it should be resolved on emergent basis.

The minister assured the CDA officials that he would ask the authorities concerned to provide Rs500 million, the amount which is required to launch the project.

The minister was informed that the project was shelved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) due to some reservations raised by the Sindh government.

The representatives of Sindh government were of the view that the project was solely for the residents of Islamabad thus the government should not allocate funds for this purpose under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). They pleaded that the PSDP could only sanction funds for the national level projects.

The minister directed the CDA high-ups to take measures to ensure smooth flow of traffic on Islamabad Highway right from airport chowk to Faisal mosque.

“On the highway, Zero Point is the only area where commuters face trouble due to traffic congestion,” he observed.

The minister said people had to wait in long traffic queues at the Zero Point signal due to extraordinary traffic load.

A CDA official said the authority had prepared the PC-I of the project several years ago and it was sent to the government for approval a couple of years back.

However, the government rejected the plan saying that there was no need to construct the flyover at that time.

“The government asked the CDA that the volume of traffic in Islamabad was not so big to construct the flyover at Zero Point,” he said.

Following the directives of the interior minister, the CDA will again sent the plan to the Ecnec for approval, the official said.